MGMT 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior Project Proposal

Workforce Diversity and Performance

[Type the author name]

MGMT 591
Professor: Tyson Moore Ph.D.
7/21/13

OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATION
The organization that will be my topic of discussion for my project paper is Jons Marketplace. I would like to specify that I am not part of this organization; 98 percent of my life I was on my own, but I do have a relative working there as a manager. As a brief overview of the organization that I have chosen for my topic, I can say that this organization was founded in 1977 as a family-owned supermarket chain in southern California.
Their approach is “Everyone knows that no two snowflakes are alike, so why should neighborhood markets be? (No trick question here: they shouldn’t.) Our sentiment exactly. We’ve created our stores to be as unique and special as our customers. That’s why we’ve adapted each JONS market – each store layout, each building design, each product offering – to the needs and preferences of its specific community. In each case we’ve worked hard to gather so many different types of general grocery items and international items under one roof, so you can spend less time searching for the foods you love – and more time savoring them.” Well, I like that. This approach is showing exactly some things about diversity in general and about their diversity workforce. And here it comes what we call work force diversity, according to their website: “Our employees hail from all parts of the city, from all cultures, all backgrounds, and certainly, from all tastes. And, like the city itself, our company is uniquely committed to this astounding diversity and to those who serve it. No wonder that loyalty works both ways. Trumping industry standard, many of our employees has worked in our stores, in evolving capacities, for decades – 10, 20, even 30 years!”
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. This looks simple right? Well, diversity is more complex when is about an organization; we are talking about race, gender, ethnic groups, age, personality, cognitive style, organizational function, education, background, etc. According to Schermerhorn, “Workforce diversity refers to a mix of people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some way, different from those in the prevailing constituency. Organizations have recognized the importance of embracing policies and practices to diversify their workforces because it helps enhance competitiveness, build talent, expand organizational capabilities, and enhance access to markets (i.e., diverse customer bases).” (2012 p. 42)
That is true and is applicable to Jons Marketplace too. It is not easy for any manager of this organization to handle and to “fight” for these things. From time to time I’m visiting their stores and I can say that a big problem for an organization with a diversity regarding the work force is about little conflicts that may appear between employees from different cultures, backgrounds or cultural values. In fact, these problems may occur in any organization with a large diversity of their employees. Not to forget that diversity it doesn’t mean just how we perceive ourselves but how we perceive others. An organization’s success depends upon its capacity to embrace diversity and realize how beneficial this is; the more diverse is an organization, the more ideas and solution are coming in. Also, as in my chosen organization there is about a broader service range, like let’s say a diverse collection of skills and experience such as languages or cultural understanding that are extremely helpful in their relationship with the customers.
PRELIMINARY PROBLEM STATEMENT
What I would like to research is how the management team at Jons Marketplace is focusing on resolving any type of conflicts that may occur inside the organization, what their policies are and what they do to prevent any incident implying diversity; how these problems may affect the company’s performance. Therefore, the preliminary researchable question it will be that what kind of problems they have regarding the diversity, how the management is handling this problem, training, etc. This topic it is related to our textbook TCO A & B. My project paper it will work towards researching and resolving this problem, according to the concepts that I am learning during my MGMT 591 course.

REFERENCE:
1. Jons Marketplace (n.d.). Retrieved on July 21, 2013 from http://jonsmarketplace.com/default.aspx
2. Schermerhorn Jr., J. R., Osborn, R. N., Uhl-Bien, M., & Hunt, J. G. (2012). Organizational Behavior. (12 th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.